


Avengers Dissemble

by spuffyduds



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-06
Updated: 2012-05-06
Packaged: 2017-11-04 22:01:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/398650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spuffyduds/pseuds/spuffyduds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everybody lies, everybody fronts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Avengers Dissemble

**Author's Note:**

> Massive movie spoilers; wild tone shifts.

Bruce isn’t really angry all the time. Ninety-nine percent of the time, he’s scared out of his mind.

Tony’s already given Pepper majority ownership of the tower, upon his death. Of the whole, well...he doesn’t like to call it an _empire_ , but... Okay, he fucking _loves_ calling it an empire. It was a bitch setting that up with a whole new squadron of lawyers and accountants she doesn’t know about, and he’s still not entirely sure he pulled it off without her finding out. He can’t quite deal with the idea of telling her about it, it’s too...he’s not sure how anything involving that many suits can be too sentimental, but yeah. Anyway, if he’d gotten stuck out in the Universe of Articulated Space Whales, she would have become the richest woman on the planet. Whatever way he gets himself blown up next week, she’ll become the richest woman on the planet. He’d like to think it’ll help a little. He’s pretty sure it won’t. She’ll do a good job with the empire, though. Better than he does.

Steve would never tell anybody this, but...one of the SHIELD agents told him he ought to watch “Austin Powers,” it would probably really have resonance for him, and he _sobbed_ all through the scene with Austin speedwatching the decades he missed. Steve’s pretty sure this is what they’re calling “meta.” He hates meta.

Natasha doesn’t like listening to the radio. Because sometimes a song will come on that she remembers liking, years ago, and then, wait, did she actually ever like it or did her cover persona like it? She’ll hear the opening notes of something familiar and just...stand stock still for a moment, wondering if that is a real rush of feeling or just the beginning of picking up an old role. And that’s a waste of time, she’s got better things to do than that, and being confused pisses her off.

Clint tries not to even let himself _think_ this, much less say it out loud, ever. But the time when he was under Loki’s spell, everything was so _clear_. Black and white, us and them, no questions, purity. It was glorious. Jesus. He’s not even going to _think_ that.

Thor lied to Banner in the shawarma restaurant, when Thor’s eyes filled with tears and Banner said, “You okay there?” Thor drew himself upright and said, “Many honorable comrades and foes have fallen on the battlefield today.” “Yeah,” Banner said, and all the heroes nodded and sighed and chewed, and no one realized that Thor had tried a bite with chili sauce and his throat flamed like the heart of a sun.

The bloody trading cards? That was Fury’s set. He was never going to ask Cap to sign them, never going to even tell anybody he _had_ them, because he is trying to save the world here and his image is _the only fucking superpower he’s got._ He couldn’t bloody up Coulson’s cards. He just could not. And he’s not telling anyone that either, because--look, he just explained about his image, he does not have _time_ to explain anything twice.

\---end---


End file.
